University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
vs. #3E Middle Tennessee Aeropostale Sun Belt Tournament
Cajuns Magical Run Through the Sun Belt Tournament Finishes One Step Short of the NCAA Tournament
3/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
DENTON, Texas –
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team may not
return home champions of the 2005 Sun Belt Conference
Tournament, but they can hold their heads high with pride
knowing that they've taken the program to a new level by
advancing within one step of the school's first-ever NCAA
Tournament berth.
The Ragin' Cajuns (22-9) magical run through the Sun Belt Tournament – which saw the squad pick up the first-ever league tournament victory and reach the championship game for the first time ever as well – came to a end on Tuesday with a 67-52 loss to now back-to-back tournament champion Middle Tennessee (23-8).
The loss will likely end the breakthrough campaign for J. Kelley Hall and his charges, who tied the school record for single-season victories, unless the Women's National Invitational Tournament grants them an invitation to its tournament. The defeat also snapped the team's five-game win streak which was the longest since the 1989-90 season.
Much like the meeting between the two programs earlier this season on Jan. 27 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the Cajuns struggled to knock down their shots shooting just 30.4 percent in the first half and committing 12 turnovers.
The Cajuns defense, which put forth its best effort of the season in the semifinal win over Arkansas State, was a step slower than MT and allowed numerous back-door cuts and inside penetration which led to the Lady Raiders holding a 30-12 advantage in points in the paint.
Louisiana-Lafayette star center Anna Petrakova was bumped all day long by the physical Lady Raiders defense which frustrated her into a Sun Belt Tournament-low eight points. Petrakova had just one point at halftime as MT effectively took her out of her game.
The Cajuns hung around through entire contest despite being down 13 points at the half. Head coach J. Kelley Hall was left scratching his head when his team finished 7-of-19 (31.3 percent) from the free throw line and the score was 55-41 with 7:36 left to play.
Bernette Toslton led the Ragin' Cajuns
with 14 points while Tiffany Washington posted a team-best
eight rebounds. Petrakova, who came in averaging 14 rebounds
per game during the SBC Tournament, was limited to four
rebounds.
All five Middle Tennessee starters posted double digits in the scoring column with three players scoring at least 12 points. Most Outstanding Player Patrice Holmes scored 14 points while Chrissy Givens scored a game-high 18 points.
Louisiana-Lafayette shot the ball better in the second half as the Cajuns hit for a 44.8 clip, but MT was just as effective putting down 50 percent of its second-half shots.
The Ragin' Cajuns hung with the Lady Raiders in the first six minutes of the contest. Three-pointers by Tolston and Washington cut the MT lead to 7-6 with 17:17 left in the first half after the Lady Raiders opened the game scoring the first four points.
As would be the story all game long, the Lady Raiders always had an answer for the Cajuns. After the Washington triple made it 7-6, Ciara Gray forced a turnover from Louisiana-Lafayette's Melissa Bratton by stealing the ball and racing in for a three-point basket that made it 10-6.
A Bratton jumper at the 14:17 mark closed the gap to 10-9. However, the Cajuns – who never shook off the jitters of being a first-time participant in the championship game – showed the tournament inexperience by going into a five-minute scoring drought which helped the Lady Raiders open a 22-9 lead with 9:31 left to play before the half.
The Cajuns were their own worst enemy as they committed five turnovers during the stretch that fueled the 12-0 MT run.
Louisiana-Lafayette fought back to a
10-point deficit at 22-12 at the 6:50 mark. The Lady Raiders
then got a jumper from Krystle Horton and a layup from
Horton one minute later that stretched the lead to 26-12.
Twice the Cajuns would close the deficit to 11 points and twice the Lady Raiders would have an answer. The Cajuns trailed 30-19 and had an opportunity to close within single digits. A Petrakova missed jumper with 50 seconds left was followed up by a Holmes jumper with three seconds showing that increased the MT lead to 32-19 at the break.
Louisiana-Lafayette couldn't buy a break in the second half either. After a Bratton inside move to the basket cut the lead to 32-21 MT went on a 7-2 run that pushed the lead to 39-23.
The decisive stretch that sealed the win for MT was a 7-0 run following the 15-minute media timeout. Tolston had just drained a triple that closed the gap to 39-29 with 15:47 left to play. The Lady Raiders' run opened a 46-29 with a three-pointer by Gray at 12:53 capping off the run.
The Lady Raiders' lead grew as large as 19 points, 55-36 with 9:14 left to play, but the Cajuns never quit. An 8-2 run had Louisiana-Lafayette down just 57-44 with 5:24 on the clock. A pair of free throws made by MT's Tia Stovall made it 59-44 and then Ashley Blanche missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 situation wihhc led to a Givens jumper at 4:08 that stretched the lead to 61-44.
The Cajuns made one last push reeling off a 6-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 63-50 on a Tolston layup with 1:43 left to play.
The loss keeps the Cajuns winless all-time against MT in eight tries.
GAME NOTES
*All 12 players in uniform saw action for Louisiana-Lafayette
*Bernette Tolston added to her personal single-season record for three-point field goals by connecting on 3-of-7 in the game. Tolston now has 64 triples this season.
*Ashley Blanche dished out six assists and now ranks No. 4 for career assists at Louisiana-Lafayette with 283. She also moves ahead of Kim Perrot (1988-89) for the fifth-best single-season mark with 151.
*The 2004-05 team will finish tied with the 1983-84 squad for the most victories in a single season. Louisiana-Lafayette finished with 22 wins and the program's first winning season since the 1987-88 season.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (23-8) Givens,
Chrissy 8-13 2-2 18; Holmes, Patrice 6-14 0-0 14; Horton,
Krystle 6-11 0-0 12; Gray, Ciara 3-7 2-2 11; Stovall, Tia
3-7 4-4 10; Boyd, Lakira 1-2 0-0 2; Orr, Starr 0-1 0-0 0;
Jakobsen, Ditte 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 8-8 67.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (22-9) Tolston, Bernette 5-14 1-2 14;
Washington, Tiffany 4-6 0-1 10; Petrakova, Anna 3-9 2-7 8;
Bratton, Melissa 2-9 1-4 5; Charles, Onna 2-5 0-0 5;
McDaniel, Alicia 1-1 1-1 3; Blanche, Ashley 1-5 0-1 3;
Anderson, Sherita 1-1 0-0 2; Kotta, Alexandra 1-1 0-0 2;
Buford, Tobie 0-0 0-0 0; Edwards, Sonora 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas,
Domonique 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 5-16 52.
Halftime: MT 32-19. 3-point goals - MT 5-13 (Gray 3-6; Holmes 2-5; Boyd 0-1; Jakobsen 0-1), UL 7-19 (Tolston 3-7; Washington 2-3; Blanche 1-3; Charles 1-2; Thomas 0-1; Bratton 0-2; Petrakova 0-1). Fouled out - MT-None, UL-None. Rebounds – MT 32 (Holmes 8), UL 36 (Washington 8). Assists - MT 19 (Holmes 4; Horton 4; Stovall 4), UL 10 (Blanche 6). Total fouls - MT 14, UL 7. A – 894.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
